The 24
by Secondhandmasters
Summary: Sort of a Bioshock AU. There are 24 people who Sofia Lamb is after. But those 24 have supernatural powers and need to defend themselves from Lamb. WARNING: There is slash (Johnny Topside/Sinclair)


The 24

ΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩ

Yep, I'm Johnny Topside, or that's the name I'm known by anyway, apparently I'm one of those 'dangerous' people they call "The 24", the people marked dead by the symbols on their hands, as some old myth goes, those people possess some sort of supernatural powers. I myself am "Δ" or Delta, and I have the power of superhuman strength. No one is suppose to know that though, if they do they'll rat me out to Sophia Lamb, those are the rules. Sophia Lamb hunts The 24s down, probably uses them for scientific experiments or just tortures them to death, who knows, it's nothing that can be good anyway. All I'm sure of is that she doesn't like them, not one bit.

To keep myself undercover, working as a diver, plus I make sure to keep my distance from people, never thought I'd be glad to be a mute. That way I was sure no one got close to me, no one ever wanted to anyway. I was a scary looking guy, scars all over my body and face, I can't even remember the last time I cracked a smile, I wasn't what they call "A looker" not even close, and even the kids were scared of me. To them I look like some kind of a comic book villain who jumped out of one of those horror comics. Not that I was bothered by it anyway.

Weird thing is that the past week, I noticed that I was being followed. I didn't bother finding out who was following me or what they want, I had nothing to hide (except the symbol of course) and if I ignore them they'll probably get bored and leave. Even so… the person can't follow me under water.

"Hi" the sound interrupted my thoughts and I stopped walking not really turning to look at whoever had approached me. "Johnny? Johnny Topside?"

I rolled my eyes and finally turned to look at the person, it was a girl, with short black hair, young looking, and wide black eyes. With her was a smaller girl in a blue and white dress. I raised an eyebrow as a simple reply to her question, I was a mute after all, and facial expressions were the best answers I could give. She looked around and tugged on my glove. "Let's go somewhere else; I have to speak to you"

I pulled away from here and walked away ignoring her request she followed me and stood in front of me. "Please!" she begged. "Just listen to me, it's very important" I saw something in her eyes, she was determined and I knew she wasn't going to leave me alone, I crossed my arms over my chest and gestured her to make it quick. "I know who you are, I know that you're Delta" my eyes widened, she knows I'm one of the "24" … damn. "I won't hurt you, actually I need your help, please, let's just go somewhere private, your house, anywhere where there are no people" I nodded and with my finger told her to follow me.

We walked to a small shack where I come to just sit and relax sometimes, it was near a river which looked and sounded very calming. She sat on top of one of the boxes. "You're a very quiet guy Mr. Topside" I took a pen and a paper that I kept here if I ever needed to just scribble down my thoughts and wrote down. "I'm a mute" then turned the paper around for her to see. She made an "O" shape with her mouth and then she looked down, I don't like it when people have sympathy for me. Being a mute wasn't a bad thing. "I'm so sorry to hear that" shrugging, I gestured for her to get on with it. "Wow, you're not a very patient person" she giggled. "My name is Eleanor, I am one of the "24" as well" she removed her glove revealing the symbol "Θ" well I should have guessed that she was a "24" like me. "See? I'm a Theta, my mom… my mom doesn't know" she frowned. "My mother is Sophia Lamb" Sophia? The same person who kills the 24s? Her own daughter was a 24? Well that's shocking. "She can't know, I have seen what she has planned to do with them, she will use them and their powers, she thinks if she can get them to obey her that she can lead a way to a new world order, it's horrible… this is why I need your help, we have to find the remaining people who are like us, please, I can't do it alone"

That girl must be crazy, I shook my head, her idea was just like throwing yourself off a cliff to a rocky ocean bottom. So she just comes in and thinks it's going to be that easy, going after the "24" is like suicide, or even worse it could lead to exposing that we're both from the "24"

Eleanor carried the little girl who was with her. "This is a little sister, she can sense people who are from the "24" that's how I knew you were one" the little sister giggled and waved hello. "She can help us, there are others out there, we can find them along the way while we search for the rest of the "24" you're Delta right? You own superhuman strength, but we need to find your other half, the half that's suppose to complete you, if we at least found whoever it is you two will be at your full strength" she took out a paper. "I have this paper here, it'll help us find your other half" I pushed the paper away and shook my head. I didn't want any part of this madness. I didn't trust this girl anyway, this all could be a trap or something and she can take me straight to Sophia Lamb, no way in hell I'm letting myself die on the hands of that psychopath.

"Listen to me Delta, please, they need us, it's going to be bad, my mother is going to start a war, this whole town will come after us and we need to be ready. They will find you Mr. Topside, and they'll kill us all, they won't care if we're old, kids or disabled or whatever, they'll hunt us and kill each and every one of us. My mother has filled their heads with lies! Convincing them that we were evil and that if she could capture us, she'll turn us into something good, please believe me!" I sighed as she kept begging me, the little sister that was with her was now tugging on my diver's suit, she was crying softly.

If helping them would get them to go away then hell I'm okay with that, finally I nodded as an agreement to help them. "Thank you, thank you so much Delta" I took the paper and wrote down. "We're you the one following me for the past week?"

The little sister jumped up. "That would be me Mr. Bubbles" Mr. Bubbles? … cute coming from a little girl like her.

"There are 12 little sisters out there; every little sister looks for her owner as well. Each one of the 24 takes care of one little sister with their other half, kind of like a family. So the person who is suppose to be your other half will be like a mother to this little sister and you a father" great, just great, now they are forcing me to have a family with someone who is suppose to be "My soul mate" or something. She put the paper between us on another box. "See here, you're Delta, the one we're suppose to be looking for is "Ω" or Omega" So Omega huh? This should be fun. I gave her a thumb up as a reply.

"We're going to look for Mommy, come on Daddy" the little sister skipped around us both and clapped her hands. Oh boy, I got a feeling that this day won't come to an end.

"We should get you one of those small white boards and a marker so you can talk to us" I raised an eyebrow giving her an 'Are you serious?' look and she grinned and nodded. Apparently she really meant it. Can this day get any worse?! "Rest for the day, we'll head out tomorrow, meet me back here early in the morning okay? And keep this little sister with you, she will lead you to me if needed, besides… you are her father now" with that Eleanor ran out not even giving me time to protest. I sighed and looked down at the little sister. She looked back at me with eyes full of innocence. When I said "Can this day get any worse" it appears that the world took it as a challenge.

I gestured for the little girl to follow me as I stood up and headed out of the shack, she ran after me and held my hand, how her hand was so small compared to mine. Damn it, I didn't want this thing getting to me. "Do you think mommy is going to be pretty?" I shrugged, I couldn't care less really. "I bet mommy is going to be nice like you daddy" really? No kid even wanted to get close to me, and today this little girl calls me "Nice"?

Once we got to my house I opened the fridge, I haven't ate anything all day. I took a box of milk out and showed it to the little girl. "Oh I'm hungry~" she grinned. I smiled faintly at her and started preparing a sandwich for the both of us. "Can I help daddy? I'll be a good girl, I won't make the ground all messy and I won't spill the milk I promise" I patted her head gently and pushed her to go sit down, she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest before jumping up to sit on the couch. For some reason that made me chuckle.

I handed her a plate and a warm glass of milk the sat next to her, crossing one leg over the other and turning on the TV. As usual it's on the news channel but I don't think a little girl would enjoy watching news about economy or whatever they were talking about, once I changed the channel the girl jumped up. "No, put it back, mommy was on" I blinked; a "24" wouldn't just appear on TV would they? I shrugged and switched back but all I saw was something about business and the founder of this town's biggest company what was it called again?... Sinclair Solutions? "Look its mommy" she pointed at the TV and I looked at her before scratching the back of my head not sure who exactly she was pointing at. She started eating her sandwich while happily looking at the TV not even blinking. "Daddy… I waited so long for you and mommy to meet, tomorrow Eleanor and I are going to take you to see Mommy, then we can be a family, the bad lady won't get us because you and Mommy are going to be too strong for her, you'll be stronger together. Mommy is super smart, just like daddy is super strong and just like Eleanor can see the future and control people's minds" she rested her head on my chest and hugged me. "We're going to be happy" I stared at the TV screen then at the little girl only to notice by the time the news was finished that the little sister had fallen asleep. I picked her up gently and put her down on my bed.

Going back to the living room I picked up the plates and empty glasses of milk, putting them in the sink and changing my clothes, I stared at the TV before shaking my head and turned it off slowly I sneaked under the sheets and slept besides the little girl who's suppose to be my daughter, I kept wondering who she meant, who was Omega? I guess I had to wait till tomorrow to find out.

ΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩ

"Daddy, Daddy wake up, we have to go see Eleanor" I felt the little girl pulling on my hand; I opened my eyes slowly but hissed when they were exposed to sunlight. I nodded and she finally let go, I got up and rubbed my eyes, yawning I made my way to the bathroom, the water was already running, the little sister was washing her face, I scratched my head and washed my face as well, and brushed my teeth, then changed my clothes, the little sister ran out and I quickly followed her.

Eleanor was there near the shack just like she said she would be. She smiled and waved hello before hugging the little sister. "Did you have fun?" the little sister nodded then looked back at me.

"Yesterday, we saw mommy on TV" she clapped her hands together and giggled.

"You did? Can you lead us to your mommy?" Eleanor asked and the little sister nodded happily. "But first," Eleanor walked up to me and put a white board around my neck then handed me a marker. "Just in case" so she really wasn't kidding about this. I took the board and wrote down. 'Seriously?' she nodded. "Yes Delta, now let's go we can't waste time" I rolled my eyes and sighed. The little sister started walking and we followed her, Eleanor handed me a gun. "I hope you are familiar with using those we might need to use them" I nodded and took the gun, not like I really needed it; I had superhuman strength after all.

"How did Omega look like?" Eleanor asked and I shrugged. "But the little sister said you saw Omega last night, on the news" taking the board I started writing down. 'She pointed at someone but there were a lot of people' Eleanor nodded. "Okay, I understand, you don't seem excited for a man who is going to see the person he is destined to be with" I faked a quick smile that looked more like a forced smile, shaking my head and wrote on the board. 'Not at all'

"Uh-oh Mr. Bubbles, there are bad people here" The little sister pointed ahead to the giant building that read "Sinclair Solutions". "Hurry or they might hurt mommy" the little girl started running faster and we followed her, Eleanor hid behind a car and pulled me down with her. "See? Men wearing black want to hurt mommy"

Eleanor looked up just glancing at the men who were across the street sitting in a van, all dressed in black and wearing ugly looking masks, they look like bank robbers not kidnappers or assassins. "Oh no, those are my Mother's men, they might have known that someone in there is a "24" whoever the person is we have to get to them before my mother's men do, we'll have to sneak in" I slapped my hand on my forehead and followed the two girls who already started making their way to the back door of the building.

The door was locked and the two looked at me, I blinked at them and they just grinned. They were going to make me do something bad, I can feel it in my guts. "Daddy can break the door, he's super strong, right daddy? You'll do it for mommy right?" well…. Fuck. I already know there is no use arguing with those two so I just took a step back then kicked the door and it broke down in a split second and from the first kick.

"Now we need to be quiet okay? No use in getting caught" We nodded at Eleanor as we went into the building.

I scribbled down on the board then tapped on it to get their attention. 'How do we know who we're looking for?'

"Well, Little sister here can sense any "24" if we get close she'll let us know" The little sister stopped for a second before she pointed up.

"Up, up, up we go" she giggled and we walked to the elevator, Eleanor handed me a mask and wore one herself.

"Just wear this in case someone catches us, mother can't know what I'm doing" the doors to the elevator closed and we started going up, I put on the mask, great, now we all look like bank robbers.

"Daddy looks funny" the little sister laughed.

"Once the doors open my mother's men are going to be there, they will start shooting so be prepared. We could now hear people screaming and gunshots echoing through the whole place.

The elevator doors soon opened and we were welcomed by a couple of men wearing black just like Eleanor said… fuck that can't be good. They now had their guns pointed at us and Eleanor wasted no time in getting her gun and shooting, the little sister ran out of the elevator as soon as we started shooting, I dropped the gun and cracked my knuckles dashing out of the elevator and depending on my strength instead of some weapon, I punched one of the men right in the face and followed it by a kick to the man's stomach, that sent him flying across the hall. I took the other man by the arm and threw him after the first guy while Eleanor shot down three others, three clear shots to the head. A quick painless death. She gave me a thumb up and whistled for the little sister to come out of hiding.

"Yay, you got the bad people, come on, mommy isn't far now" she jumped over the bodies like it was something normal to see, she wasn't even phased by it, she wasn't scared… wow. "Mommy is in this big office, it's just in the end of the hall, all we have to do is take a right turn and then walk an itty bitty little more then we can find mommy, and leave, aren't you excited daddy? I know I am"

"More of those guys around said corner" Eleanor said, bring it I'm ready. And as usual Eleanor was right, just as we took that turn guns started firing. Luckily there were only two men. I used myself as a shield to protect the little sister before she ran to hiding like she did before; I dodged the bullets and punched one of the men in the chest, then twisted his hand and dropped him to the floor before kicking him in the face, he passed out faster than a light. A thud was heard after I knocked the guy out, the second man fell to the floor as Eleanor shot his leg and I punched him to knock him out as well.

"Super daddy, Now we can get mommy" the little sister waved at us, she was already at the office door, I opened the door slowly.

"That's not a smart thing to-"

And suddenly before Eleanor could finish what she wanted to say a gun was pointed right at my face just as I opened the door. "NO! DON'T HURT DADDY" The little sister yelled.

Whoever was holding the gun lowered it, it was Mr. Sinclair of Sinclair Solutions. He looked down at the little sister then knelt down ruffling her hair and smiling at her. "I'm sorry I was pointin' guns at your daddy, I though' you were all out ta kill me like the others"

The little sister smiled and held the guy's hand. "Mom" she said then hugged him tightly. "I have finally found you" Eleanor and I exchanged glances and she smiled happily at me, and then looked at Sinclair like she wanted me to say something to him. I grabbed the miniature white board and I wrote down on it. 'You do realize he's a guy right?' after that I showed it to Eleanor and she just shrugged.

"Mom? Wha'? nah lill missy, you must'a mistaken me for someone else, like a woman" Sinclair told the little sister, the look on his face was somewhat between confused and probably freaked out to be mistaken for a woman but she kept holding on to his hand, taking off the gloves he was wearing.

"Maybe not a mommy, but I'm a lucky little sister, I have two daddys, it's you, you're Omega" she pointed at the mark then looked at us. "Look? I was right, I did good" she jumped happily before she hugged Sinclair again.

I shook my head quickly and made a huge "X" with my arms, no way, now way I was destined to be with another guy, Augustus Sinclair, the rich and wealthy owner of successful companies all over the world in particular, what does he and I have in common that would possibly make us like each other? What reason in the world?

Sinclair quickly pulled his hand away and hid the mark by putting on his gloves again. "Okay… how much do you need? Name it and I'll give it to you"

"W-what? We don't want money Mr. Sinclair, we're also from the "24" this is Delta," Eleanor pointed at me then took out the same paper she showed me. "See? You two are each other's missing half, you complete each other, you are distend to be together"

"Distend eh?" Sinclair took out a cigarette and lit it up before placing it to his lips. "Me, and this man?" he looked at me. "I didn't catch your name chief"

"He's a mute" Eleanor replied to him, I wrote down 'Johnny Topside' on the whiteboard and showed it to the man.

"Johnny, I see you got a lil' problem there sport, I'll see if I can get tha' fixed" he walked up to me and took my hand; I looked down at him since I was way taller than he was, I felt something, like a sudden rush of power, he chewed on his cigarette and placed a hand on the side of his head, closing his eyes. "Ugh…Alright, I'll start workin' on somethin' to help you out, just be patient with me, least I could do after you saved me from god knows who these guys are" he turned to the little sister. "And what's your name lil' girl?"

"I don't have a name, Daddy and Mommy are suppose to give me a name" she grinned innocently.

Sinclair nodded. "And he and I are suppose to… be your parents?" the little sister nodded. "Peachy" he rubbed his hands together. "Listen kid, I ain't exactly 'parent' material. Didn't plan on havin' kids, and most certainly didn't plan on takin' care of one with another man" well I'm glad he and I agree on that point. "You do realize how a family works don't'cha sweety? Two men can't be family, I'm sorry"

"But… I looked for so long Mommy… I waited for you and daddy to meet, you felt it when you touched, it was your powers, this is proof" her eyes teared up and it was just heart breaking, even for a guy who didn't really give a crap about anything like me.

Eleanor hugged the little sister and Sinclair just glanced at me before turning his back. "Hush little angel, don't cry now" she looked at us. "I see it anyway… In the future…" she said before looking angrily at us now and taking the little sister out of the room leaving me and Sinclair.

"She's the Theta ain't she?" I nodded at Sinclair's question as a response, he sighed. "She can see the future… well… this outta be interesting" he took a seat on one of the couches in this big office of his and I sat down next to him, he pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at me, while he stared I noticed I still had my mask on and I was thankful for that, I'd scare him with how I look like, compared to him I'd look like shit.

His hands came up and rested on both sides of my face, maybe to take off the mask but before he could we both winced and pulled away from each other. I felt that same shock of power hit me and it hurt but in a good way. "Holy Moses kid, that's one hell'a of a headache" he chuckled. The little sister did mention that Omega was had super intelligence. "Would'ya take off your mask? I'd like to see the face of the man that saved me"

I shook my head and wrote down. 'Trust me, there is nothing there you want to see' on the board. I don't even know why he even thought about that, there was really nothing for him to see.

He smiled and nodded. "Maybe one day then, not today but one day" that made me smile widely behind the mask and I nodded as well.

Eleanor came in after that with the little sister. "Even if you don't want to be her parents, you two still need to find a place to stay, somewhere where we can find the rest of the "24", mother is still going to try to kill us all, Mr. Sinclair, if I'm not asking for much… can you at least provide us shelter? A place where we can keep the rest of the "24" safe once we find them?"

Sinclair rubbed his chin. "Well as a matter of fact miss, I know one of 'em "24" she's a friend of mine, she would love ta meet ya'll, we got a place for us both to hide, bet you could use that"

Eleanor grinned. "Thank you so much, we need to go there if you don't mind" wow Eleanor wasn't kidding about this, it was like being sucked into a comic book, or an action movie, hope this one has what kids call "A happy ending"

"Fine by me" he walked out of the office and we followed him, he walked over some of the bodies with a grin. "Seems like you guys had to get through really bad security to get here, Sophia Lamb sent these men… She must'a known I was one of the "24" damn" he chuckled.

We got in the elevator and I could see Sinclair looking at the little girl with saddened eyes before he pressed a button and the doors closed. I sighed and picked her up putting her on my shoulder, she giggled and hugged me. "Aw Daddy, are we going somewhere nice? Are there other little sisters there?" I just shrugged.

"Well it's nice, but… I'm sorry lil' one… we ain't got other lil' sisters, we have Tenenbaum though, she's a real nice lady, I'm sure you'll love her"

Eleanor took out the paper. "Do you happen to know which symbol she has?" she showed Sinclair the paper. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at the paper before pointing at one of the symbols.

"This one, the "Ξ" or the Xi if I remember correctly" Eleanor seemed impressed by that, she looked at me and smiled.

"She posses the powers of healing, this is a very useful power, we'll need it" Eleanor said and Sinclair looked at her then back at the paper with curiosity, he scratched the back of his neck and his focus changed back to the paper in Eleanor's hand.

"You seem to know a lot about all this" Sinclair took the paper from Eleanor and looked at all the symbols, studying each one careful as if he could take a picture of it in the back of his mind and memorize them all with just a glance, well he did posses super intelligence so who knows, maybe he is able to do so.

"Yes, well my mother is Sophia Lamb herself, I know what she knows, and what I know is not all good trust me" I'm not sure if Eleanor is telling the truth about this whole war thing, and even if we find the rest of the "24" we'd probably still be out numbered, but if Sophia's army were as lame as the guys she sent to kill Sinclair then this would be like a walk in the park.

"Smart kid, sneakin' around behind mama's back eh?" Eleanor giggled and nodded. The elevator stopped and the doors opened, we were now somewhere that looked like something between a basement and a mini house.

"Herr Sinclair, you have come back early today" a woman stepped into view. "And I see you have brought some guests" The woman looked old, a grey dress covering her thin figure, she looked like a nurse or a nanny you would send to look after your children, then you'd be surprised that nanny here is not a normal human, kind of like Marry Poppet.

"This is Bridig Tenenbaum, Tenenbaum these are a couple'a people from the "24" apparently they wanna gather all the "24"s and rise against Sophia Lamb or somethin' of tha' sort"

"Really? Mein gott. That is dangerous" she came over to us as Sinclair stepped out and past the woman, she looked at our hands. "Theta, und… Delta" she looked at me. "You're Delta?" I nodded as a reply; she looked at me then at Sinclair. "Delta… und Omega they-"

"Now I don' wanna hear ya talkin' crap about how Delta and Omega are suppose to complete each other, it jus' don't make sense"

Tenenbaum looked at the little sister with amusement. "A little one, Herr Delta you must be aware by now that she is your responsibility, you might be the first to have found their little one, und each other"

Sinclair and I sighed. Can't they realize by now that they are using a wrong approach, they should just let the days go by, if Sinclair and I get along with the little girl we might consider becoming her parents or something, well maybe not exactly "Parents" just caretakers… or… whatever. Am I really thinking about that?!

"Anyway, you can stay here as long as you wanna, make yourselves at home" Sinclair loosened his tie before he disappeared into one of the rooms.

Tenenbaum's glance changed from Sinclair to me or the whiteboard around my neck anyway. "He's a mute" Eleanor answered the unasked question. "Sinclair said he would find some way to help though"

"Have you considered hand language herr Delta?" I shook my head. "Ah, I see, you prefer to keep your distance from people, wise choice" she reached out for the little sister who was now hiding behind me. "Come little one, I won't hurt you, we will get you changed then perhaps if you are hungry I will prepare dinner"

"I'll help" Eleanor smiled and they left with Tenenbaum, I wondered alone in the big house. For a house under a company, it sure looked fancy. I heard a door open, it was Sinclair, he had changed his clothes and he looked over at me, I felt awkward so I just waved hello.

"Ain't no strangers here, still don't wanna take that mask off?" he asked and I shook my head. "As you please, come" he gestured for me to follow him so I did. "We outta work on tha' device to help people understand you now" we went inside a room that seemed to be more like a lab than an actual room. "Seems easy, I'll get it done by tomorrow, that okay with you chief?" I nodded. "Till then you can scribble down on tha' cute lil' board you got hangin' there, but here's what I'm gonna do, this device will look like a normal watch alright? But it's actually like a miniature keyboard, you type the words and the text turns to speech, simple as that" wow that's actually pretty impressive, if he can pull that off I'll be amazed.

He looked at me again, and man I've never in my life been this close to another man, our eyes met and he smiled, for some reason I felt my heart beat faster and that felt really awkward. "You got some really bright blue orbs for eyes there" I blinked then looked away; my eyes must be showing from behind the mask. "Woah there sport, they look amazin' don't'cha worry" My first ever complement, well I'm flattered, boy he'll be eating his own words if he ever sees my face. "Do you think we can do it? Take care of tha' child? I mean… what's your job Mr. Topside?"

I opened the marker and started to write down on the whiteboard. 'I'm a diver'

"A diver, tha' seems interesting"

And this is where the whole bonding thing started, Sinclair and I spent hours getting to know each other, at first I thought he'd be some kind of selfish son of a bitch that only cares about money and business, but he was the complete opposite, sure he seemed a bit mischievous, but all in all he was an amazing person who managed to accomplish so much with only good thinking, and his good thinking got him all his money fair and square.

"Daddy, Daddy are you hungry? Look what Miss Tenenbaum and Eleanor made, it's very yummy" The little sister came running holding two plates of pasta and it DID really smell good.

"Come 'ere kid" Sinclair carried the little sister and sat her on his legs as she putted down the plates on the table and turned to hug Sinclair. "Did'cha eat?" she nodded.

"And I helped Tenenbaum and Eleanor clean up after dinner, then I changed my clothes, and I'm ready for bed time now, I just wanted you to eat too"

"Well ain't you a good lil' angel" he stood up and carried her again. "Let's get'cha to bed now" he walked out of the lab room, I followed behind quietly seeing him set the girl down on the bed and covered her with a blanket, she giggled.

"Goodnight daddy" she yawned. "I love you"

Sinclair didn't say anything, just let the girl sleep before he kissed her forehead and switched off the light, I thought that was pretty nice of him to do, it was what a good dad would do, he walked out of the room and closed the door but not completely. I stood there with my arms crossed and an eyebrow raised from behind the mask and he looked at me with a surprised look. "What?"

I shook my head and laughed softly then pointed at the room where the little sister was now sleeping peacefully in. 'Are you sure you don't know how to be a good dad?' I wrote down in the board.

Sinclair shrugged. "Guess I have my moments" he patted me on the shoulder then took my hand and lead me to a sofa where we both sat down. "You… don' really believe what tha' old myth says do ya sport? I mean… this is jus' unbelievable" he chuckled and shook his head. "So far everythin' came true, The "24" would start gatherin' and here we are, then we're suppose to stop Sophia Lamb from usin' our powers or killin' us or whatever she wanna do with us, tell me you don' really believe that kid"

Actually I did believe in the Myth, Sinclair was right, everything was coming true, I'm not usually the guy that would believe anything easily, I mean if you told me Santa exists I'd punch you in the face, but this was not some sort of fairy tale where we were all suppose to have happy endings, maybe this one doesn't have a happy ending. For all we know we could all die before we even try to get to the other "24"s. I sighed and lowered my head and I could feel Sinclair moving, when I looked at him he now had his head buried in his hands.

"Yeah, I understand… It's nice to think you can deny things. Well I guess we out'ta get along, startin' tomorrow, we could at least try to be somewhat close parents or…" I blinked as I saw Sinclair trying to put a sentence together but struggling to do so. "Does any of this seem normal to you? I mean, are you okay with this all?"

I took the board and erased what was previously written in it before writing. 'Are you?' Sinclair shrugged and chewed on his thumb before sighing again.

"Wouldn't hurt to try right?" I nodded and it was strange, I was actually looking forward to it. "Now get some rest, god only knows what tomorrow has waitin' for us" he stood up and started walking to his room before he turned to look at me again. "It's nice meetin' you Johnny"

I sat there just waiting like an idiot for my brain to process what Sinclair just said, I blame his accent, it had that… charming tune to it… DAMN IT. I laid down on the sofa fighting with myself till I fell asleep.

ΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩΔΩ

Next day I found myself waking to the smell of eggs and bacon, and man was it the best smell to wake up to. I opened my eyes and lifted my head and turned to see Sinclair wearing an apron, a smile on his face and a frying pan in his hand. Just seeing him cook made my stomach growl, I didn't realize I was this hungry, well I didn't have dinner last night, I think I just left the plate of pasta in Sinclair's lab, room, or whatever he sees it as. "Mornin' chief"

I waved to Sinclair and stood up, stretching then started helping the other man set up the table, putting the plates down and smiled when I heard the radio in the kitchen the song was "They All Laughed" by Fred Astaire, and it made me chuckle, just as Sinclair noticed that he started to sing along with the radio and began to dance, god I didn't even know what I was thinking when I danced along with him, I never did that before, but it felt good, I was having fun for the first time ever.

The little sister stood there staring at us making us both freeze in our spot, which actually was a bad pose with Sinclair and I holding hands and plates in our other hand, and we just looked really stupid okay? God this is just embarrassing. Sinclair and I quickly pulled away from each other. "Yay, Mommy and Daddy were dancing, dancing" she skipped around us happily then hugged us. "Mommy and daddy are getting along" Sinclair and I exchanged glances then he laughed.

"Yeah kid, we're getting' along jus' fine" he ruffled her hair and the look on her face said it all, she was happier than a puppy who just found a new home. "Now come on, I made ya'll a nice breakfast"

The little sister jumped on one of the chairs ready for breakfast. "I washed my face, and I cleaned my hands Daddy, I'm so hungry" Eleanor and Tenenbaum exited their rooms and Eleanor took a seat next to the little sister with Tenenbaum on the opposite side to them. I took a seat, facing me was Sinclair.

He looked at Eleanor. "So what's the plan?" he asked and Eleanor seemed encouraged by seeing Sinclair interested in what she had in mind. She opened her bag and took out a map; she had marked where we were at in the moment.

"Since we're four now, there are twenty more to locate, not to mention the little sisters since they are important in connecting the powers between the two matched "24"s like Mr. Topside and Mr. Sinclair. I suggest we go after the pairs, when we find one of them a little sister would surely be close, that's how I found this one, when I noticed she was following Johnny around. After breakfast we can work on putting the remaining "24" in categories, depending on their powers, this little sister will help sniff them out, if we're close to a "24" she'll know, but we have to be careful, mother has eyes everywhere"

We all nodded, Eleanor makes a good leader, she's smart and she's the only one aware of how bad things are, I'd follow her lead for sure. "This is a very dangerous mission," Sinclair smirked. "We'll need a lot of gun power which I luckily have" he looked at me. "Not just guns, but protection too, Tenenbaum and I have been workin' on some sort of suit that's bullet proof, plus chief, I stayed up all night makin' that device for ya and it turned out jus' fine and dandy, you can see it after eatin'," I frowned, keeping Sinclair up all night for some stupid device made me feel terrible. "I think we might be able to get out'ta this alive"

"It's settled then, let's get to work" Eleanor finished her plate and excused herself, once we all finished we separated, Tenenbaum with Eleanor working on categorizing the other "24" while Sinclair and I headed to get what we need from protection suits to guns, plus I was really excited to see that device Sinclair was talking about.

It did really look like a normal watch; he put it around my wrist then looked at me with a grin. "Go on chief, try it out"

Well, here goes nothing. There was a little button that I could move around to stop on the letters I wanted, and I started moving it forming the word "Sinclair" the text turned to sound as soon as I formed the word and pressed on another button that was on the side that I figured probably works like an enter key.

His smile widened. "I'm honored Mr. Topside, havin' my name be the first word you say" he laughed and I found my lips twitching into a smile themselves. Then our eyes met again, and quietness surrounded us, his hands slowly came up to my face. "I'm so curious to…" he whispered and then he was pulling the mask off with so much care."How does the man I'm destined to be with… looks like" I closed my eyes and let him remove the mask, as much as I didn't want him to, I just let him. I bit down on my lower lip and lowered my head in shame but he lifted my head by placing his hand under my chin, his other hand running all over the scars on my face, and I was shivering, I don't know if it was out of fear or something else, even swallowing seemed hard at the moment.

"Hey, you got'ta open your eyes" I tried, I opened them slowly and I saw Sinclair still with the same big smile. I was a freak, a monster, how could he ever smile in my face? My body was relaxing when his hand moved up, his fingers now going through my hair. I wanted to speak, to say something, to ask what he thinks of me, I just wanted this silence to be lifted. "You're no bad man Johnny Topside" then he started playing with my hair and rubbing my chin at the same time, finally I was relaxed, it felt nice. I closed my eyes again and smiled and what came next shocked me.

Sinclair had placed a kiss on my forehead, on my cheeks and then… on the corner of my lips, so close it made me hold my breath. So close I almost fainted. I thought he was going to do it, that he was going to kiss me but nothing happened, he pulled back just leaving me there desperate to feel his lips on mine. I didn't plan for this, god knows I didn't. But everything this man did, made me want more, God damn it the myth is never wrong, it wasn't wrong about Eleanor, it wasn't wrong about the powers, it wasn't wrong about the little sisters, and damn it, it wasn't wrong about Delta and Omega… I was slowly falling in love with Augustus Sinclair, and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. I didn't even want it before, but now I need it. I wanted him to love me.

"We better… go see how lil' Eleanor and Tenenbaum are doin', help me get the suits for us to gear up before hittin' the road" I nodded and sighed before standing up to get the suits, they weren't heavy at all I took them all and we left to see how the others are progressing.

Eleanor looked up at me with a smile and she showed me a small diagram she and Tenenbaum must've worked to make. "Okay, so we separated our "24" I think it would be smart if we went after the ones who hold the power of the elements first, earth, wind , water, and fire. After that we can go after the other powers such as telekinesis and super speed, there is actually a super power where you can control sound too such as echo and sound levels, which I think is quite magnificent"

"And I can talk" I let the device on my wrist say. Everyone turned to look at me and I just waved at them, Tenenbaum looked at Sinclair then gave him a nod before they all looked back at the Diagram…. Okay? That was awkward.

"So should we start movin' today?"

Eleanor nodded. "Actually right now, mother must have sent her men to the next target since they couldn't get you Sinclair"

The little sister came running to us and she tugged on Sinclair's sleeve. "Come mommy look, you're on TV again, hurry" she ran to the television and we all followed her.

"Citizens of this city, this is a warning, Augustus Sinclair is one of the "24" he was spotted with one of the little sisters and another two who are suspected to be of the "24" as well," and then when I thought it couldn't get worse, it did. A photo of us that they probably got from hacking they security cameras was displayed for everyone to see; yep this wasn't going to be an easy mission. "If you spot any of these people please report to us, and always remember…. Sophia Lamb is our savior" at least we still had our masks on when the photo was taken… they can't possible recognize us right?

"Jim-Dandy" Sinclair chuckled and clapped his hands together.

"Are they going to hurt you mommy? You're not bad…" the little sister hugged Sinclair tightly and he just looked at her and continued laughing like what we just saw was funny, this was serious, anyone who would spot this guy now would put a bullet to his head! But I won't let that happen, no one is going to hurt Sinclair or the little sister as long as I live.

"There, There kid, no one is goin' to hurt me," and then he was looking at me. "Big daddy here will keep me safe" I grinned, Big daddy, I like that nickname.

The little girl looked between me and Sinclair then giggled. "Mommy and Daddy are falling in love" and then she started skipping around us before heading to the door. "Let's go find the other angels now so they can be happy like mommy and daddy" I shook my head in embarrassment before handing everyone their suits according to their symbols. We put the suits on and headed out as soon as everyone was ready.

One by one we started tracking down every other "24" going as Eleanor had planned, bringing in one by one from each category she made, some of them were a real pain in the ass, refusing to come with us and calling us liars, some others were just paranoid, wow Lamb sure did break some of them real bad, making them live hidden from the world and they looked pathetic and sad… others were stubborn, nothing a couple of punches couldn't fix. But the more of them we got to join us the more confident we got, the little sister had some other sisters to play with now, everything looked bright.

Except for being attacked by Sophia's men every damn time!

I almost lost Sinclair, I was stupid and I let my guard down, he was trying to keep our little safe, and he got shot in the arm because of it, I should have been more aware, I can't lose him, or the little sister, we were finally getting along, I… I finally have a family.

We managed to gather most of the "24"s by the end of the month, with each one joining us we became stronger. Sinclair and I learned how to combine both our powers and it made everything all the easier, he always worked on upgrading the suits we wear, or our weapons, I'd help him, sometimes we'd stay up all night working on a single weapon, and I was glad we were getting closer. He promised me if we ever come out of this victorious that he and I would work together in his company.

It was perfect, all so perfect I- "Daddy?" I looked down at the little girl who just interrupted my thoughts. "Mommy needs help again" I nodded and headed to Sinclair's lab, wow this place is getting crowded, but still I followed our little sister to Sinclair, I found him sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, my heart stopped I thought he was hurt so I ran over to him and quickly knelt down beside him, shaking him gently and thank god his eyes opened.

"Ugh… must have… dozed off" I shook my head and carried him; I can't even remember the last time Sinclair got some sleep. "W-Where are you takin' me sport?"

"Bed" was the only word I could form with the "Text to speech" device.

"I-I can still work, honest" I glared at him angrily and he just sighed then curled up against my chest like a child, it didn't take long for me to get Sinclair to his room but by the time I had put him down on his bed he was already asleep.

I sat on the edge of the bed staring at the sleeping figure of Sinclair, he looked so tired, every time I look down at my wrist I remember what this man was capable of, I smiled and laid down beside him, yawning. I thought I was just going to rest but I didn't realize I was tired to the point where I fell asleep just as my head touched the pillow.

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"Chief? Hey wake up" Came the sound of the familiar voice, just hearing that southern accent made me smile. "Come on now, wake up" I opened my eyes to meet the brown eyes. OH…FUCK! No wonder it felt so warm and comfy! This is so embarrassing. "Did you sleep well?" he wrapped his arms around my neck and we were so close the tips of our noses almost touched. I felt like I was going to freaking melt in my spot.

I nodded quickly but didn't want to really move, first because god damn if it didn't feel so perfect, second because Sinclair had his arms wrapped around my neck and I didn't want to make him feel like I didn't want to be close to him, because I did, I wanted that very much. So I gave in to myself and what I wanted. "How arm?" I tried to reach for the Text to speech device but I missed a couple of words, like I didn't feel embarrassed enough.

He shrugged. "Jus' fine and dandy" and then he pulled me close, his face buried in my neck, he was going to make my heart burst and he doesn't even notice that, why was he doing that?

"Sinclair?"

"Yeah John?"

My hands were trembling on the small device, but I had to know, I didn't want to die of a heart attack. "Do you… Do you think we should name our little sister?" DAMN IT! I knew I wasn't going to be able to say it.

"I'll think about somethin', you do business for as long as I have and you'll learn to pick names from the writin' on the wall" I nodded. "For now we have more important things to worry about, we know…Sophia Lamb is goin' to start the war jus' like Eleanor predicted, and we outta be ready" I sat up and he did the same, rubbing his face."But I gotta say… I never in my life slept in such comfort as I did today" he smirked at me and I just bit my lower lip. "Do that more often would ya?" I don't know if he was joking or not but I nodded nonetheless.

Suddenly the ground was shaking so violently the roof almost came down on us. "What the-?"

The doors to the room were slammed open. "It's mother hurry! She found us!" well I guess the war got rescheduled early, and it had to be right here. Well bring it on Sophia Lamb!

We ran out to the living room. "Tenenbaum, get the little sisters to safety then come back we might need you in case someone gets wounded, Grace go with her, she might need back up, The elements team get to the front door, anyone comes from there you give them a surprise, Sinclair, Johnny, back door, I'll be there with you shortly, guard the windows, and even the air vents, any place where they can come in from you guard it" we nodded at Eleanor's commands and everyone go their spots, we could hear the windows shattering and doors being broken down, the little sisters screaming in fright.

"Alright big guy, I guess this is it, keep your guard up and be ready to shoot" Sinclair handed me a gun, I still enjoy using my fist more, but I took the gun before putting it in my pocket then cracking my knuckles. As soon as the door was kicked down I sent a powerful punch to the intruders face knocking him back on the other men, taking a step back for Sinclair to shoot the men, but they vanished, leaving behind what seemed like dried flower petals just like a ghost they all disappeared, well this is new…

Then they started reappearing one by one they beat us before disappearing again, this happened over and over and it was getting on my nerves. "Plan?"

Sinclair rubbed the back of his head where they apparently hit him that made me feel angrier. "ugh… Yeah" he looked at my hanged suit, thank god I was too tired to put it back I ran for it and took the gloves from it putting them on. "Now you jus' shoot them sport!" I put my energy in my hands and was surprised one of them turned icy cold while the other was shooting fire; I took one glove off and gave it to Sinclair. We work better as a team. As soon as we saw one of them appearing we'd shoot. But more and more kept coming at us and the place was going to collapse if we kept fighting here.

I took one of the attackers by the face and watched him burn before tossing him on another guy sending them both falling through the window. It seemed like the army was never endless, and I hope the others were having better luck than we do. "DUCK!" I heard Eleanor yell. Sinclair and I quickly ducked and a table came flying right above our heads, some kind of half man half Gorilla broke the door and knocked me to the ground, Sinclair tried to shoot him but it seemed like bullets had no effect so he jumped on its back and tried to freeze it but the gorilla like creature kept trying to get Sinclair off his back, smashing against the walls and slamming Sinclair against anything to get him to all down, I growled and tackled the monster punching him in the guts before landing another furious punch to his face, beating him till he stopped struggling and fell to the ground.

Sinclair shook his head, I offered him a hand and he gladly took it, I pulled him up and he patted my shoulder. "Thanks big daddy" I placed the glove free hand on his head, there was a small scratch with blood oozing from it, he grinned and pulled my hand away. "Now hold up, I'm fine, this is jus' getting' started and we outta not lose focus" I sighed then nodded. "Watch my back and I'll watch yours" I gave him a thumbs up then we were back to fighting, throwing people, punching, kicking, and killing. Who would have thought a diver like me would get to do that and in the end I'm supposed to be a loving daddy of a good little family. HAH, we'll be a badass little family.

The men retreated, and just as we were beginning to think that we were winning, the building shook again and it was falling on top of our heads. "GET OUT! OUT NOW!" Sinclair yelled and we all ran out of the building, the road to the exit was blocked by boulders, me and some of the other "24"s worked on removing them while everyone else divided into two teams, a team to look after the little sisters and a team to find another way out.

Sinclair pointed out all the other exists but we realized we were boxed in, this building was going to go down on our heads and burry us alive. "Get the little sisters out" Sinclair pointed at an air vent. "They can crawl outta here" we all exchanged glances, sadly the air vent wasn't going to fit us… it was too small. All we could do is save the little girls; we started sneaking them out of the air vent.

"Daddy… I don't want to leave you daddy" our little sister said and it broke my heart, but there was no time for that.

"Go we'll catch up later kid" Sinclair carried her and handed her to me, I pushed her into the air vent. "See ya on the other side" we smiled at her and she nodded following the others out.

Everyone was praying for some sort of miracle, tough luck, I don't believe in that shit. I took a couple of steps back before dashing at full speed on the door breaking the rocks and the door. Damn that was painful…. At least we can get out of here now. Just as we thought we were going to make it, the men came attacking again. Give us a fucking break! Seriously!

The battle just seemed endless, with the ceiling falling over our heads, cracking, and breaking. While fighting another one of these disappearing men I managed to get hit by the falling ceiling, pinned me down good, and Jesus I thought I was a goner. Sinclair knelt down trying to push the piece of ceiling off but that man aimed the machine gun right at his head, I could feel my blood boiling. I swear if he pulled that trigger I'll bury him alive. "Get up" the man ordered but Sinclair didn't move. I wanted to talk, to tell him to get up like the man said. I couldn't even reach the text to speech that must have been smashed to piece under the rocks now.

I looked at Sinclair, my eyes pleading for him to move before the man shoots him but he only smiled. "I won't leave ya Johnny, if you die here and we were distend… then I ain't gonna find someone else who will be worth my life"

My heart almost stopped at his words, we both closed our eyes, I never thought I'd die like this, but hey, the man I loved was there with me and he wanted to share my fate, I guess there isn't a better way to go out than this. I heard a gunshot, a body hitting the floor and I had to bite my lip to keep from letting out a gasp. I opened my eyes and was shocked, Sinclair was okay, thank god, Eleanor saved us both. "I had predicted this was going to happen, I'm glad I found you before you met death" she giggled then the two worked on getting the giant bolder off of me.

We rendezvoused with the others, Tenenbaum was healing some of the injured "24"s, in front of us was now a hoard of men with guns pointed right at us… well…shit. "You do not have to fight, surrender now to us, and we can work out some sort of agreement" Sophia Lamb appeared and we all took our fighting stance.

Surrender? Over my dead body bitch, we give in and what? She'll freaking use us as lab rats! "Mother, stop this, they are not evil as you imagine, please I beg you, stop this madness"

Sophia looked at Eleanor with disgust. "My own daughter… turned against me, have they hypnotized you? Brain washed you? No… you fight alongside those… MONSTERS because you are one of them… my own blood a "24" how disgraceful"

"I am doing what's right, you cannot use these people and their powers for yourself mother, they are human as well, I have seen them, taking care of little sisters mother, like a true family with heart, they all care for one another, as I care for you, we can prove it if you give us time, killing them here won't do you any good, taking them back and using them won't change anything mother, please understand"

Oh yeah like she's going to go 'oh hey Eleanor you're right why didn't I think of it that way' and let us go. Instead her men came launching at us with everything and we had to fight our way out of this collapsing building. We used everything we had left in us to push them back, well personally I tried to get as many of them out of the way as I could, throw them out to their doom, knock them out and hope the building collapses on them, anything to show them that it's not wise to compete with us.

But other than that… I was thinking about the little sisters, I was worried that they didn't make it out, what if a boulder blocked their way… damn it; I can't think like that, I have to be positive right? The more worried I became the angrier I got, I was like the hulk. The angrier I got the more destruction I caused, which wasn't good in a collapsing building. I was just causing this place to fall down on us even faster.

I stood there with one of these men, I kept beating him over and over, his face was all bloody and I wasn't sure if he was alive or not anymore. "Holy Moses Johnny…" Sinclair tried to pull me away from the man but I was so angry, angry at Lamb, and I was taking out that anger at those people who tried to hurt the ones who took care of me while others saw me as a monster… the monster I was becoming right now.

I looked at Sinclair and my glare said it all. 'This is what's going to happen to Lamb if I get my hands on her' Sinclair shook his head. I sighed and dropped the man, I felt sort of ashamed, letting Sinclair see me like this. I felt disgusted with myself. I let my anger get the best of me.

"Come on sport, they need us back there to get Sophia, and we need to get outta here, our lil' sis is waitin' for us" he smiled at me and that's all I needed, I nodded and scooped him up in my arms before throwing him over my shoulder and running back to the others, they had already cleared out most of the men, and now I had my eyes set on Sophia Lamb. "Put me down John" Sinclair kept hitting me lightly on my back. "I'm getting' dizzy" I chuckled and putted him down and pointed at the men guarding Sophia; Sinclair quickly read the look on my face and took out his gun. "Alright, let's do it, bu' remember, we won't kill her, she is Eleanor's mother after all"

As much as I wanted to kill that crazy bitch, Sinclair was right. But that won't erase the fact that she almost got our little sister killed, almost tore me and Sinclair apart by sending death after us, and also the fact that she wants to make us her test subjects for god knows what.

"Back us up would'ya guys? We're goin' to get Lamb" with that warning Sinclair, Eleanor, a girl named Nicky who had the power of invisibility, and I headed to get the woman, with me in front to knock out any attacker in our way, Eleanor in the middle, Sinclair covering us from the back, and with the help of the others getting to Sophia seemed easy… seemed. But it wasn't really.

We were worn out and even though Nicky tried to keep us hidden with her powers, it wasn't working that perfectly since she was tired as well, but we managed to get to Sophia, she had her back to us, and a bullet to her head could have ended this all but I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. "I know you are there… Elena" she said without even turning to look at us. "Go ahead and kill me, you have become one of those monsters" I sighed and walked over to Sophia. "Don't you dare touch me!" she yelled at me. "I called for Elena!" I ignored the woman and took out my gun.

"Johnny what are you doing, don't-"

"Hush kid, Johnny knows what he's doin'"

I raised my gun to her head before hitting the woman with the back of the gun, knocking her out cold, I threw her over my shoulder and we walked out. Nicky once again using her powers to get us back to the group safely. All we got to do now is get out and knock this damn building down on top of the intruder's heads. But that only meant more fighting. Not that I had a problem with it.

Slowly we started sneaking people out one by one till there was only me, Sinclair and Eleanor left. To us Eleanor was the priority, but it seemed to her it was the opposite. "Get outta here Eleanor"

"No, not before you go out first"

"This ain't the time for us to be arguin' like this"

"You think I don't know that?!" I watched the two go back and forth and sighed lifting the two and throwing them out of the window where I knew the other "24" would safely catch them before jumping myself. Hey they were arguing about who would escape first in a god damn collapsing building!

I landed on my feet, cracking the floor beneath me, at first it kind of hurt, I felt a sting in my legs but after a while I was fine and we were running, Sinclair looked back in grief of losing his work, his company, his life's work. For a reason that made me feel bad as well, like it was my fault somehow. Sinclair read the look on my face immediately; I hate how I'm like an open book to this guy. "It ain't your fault sport" he smiled, I just nodded and we stood not far from the wreckage looking at Eleanor and the still passed out Sophia.

"I'll take care of mother, don't worry, I'll get her home… maybe erase her memory about the whole "24" thing" she giggled, of course she was joking about the whole memory erasing thing, but we trusted Eleanor, she'd know what to do.

"I'll… think o' a way to rebuild this place, probably gonna take a lot o' time" Sinclair scratched the back of his head. I raised my hand slowly and he looked at me, I smiled then looked at the building offering my hand of help, he chuckled. "It'll be a lot o' work chief, you ready for that?" I nodded. He gave me a look of appreciation before kissing the corner of my lips like he did before, this time I pulled him by the shirt and pressed our lips together. After this long damn day I wanted a kiss from him and I was going to get it okay?! Good thing is that he kissed back; bad thing is that it left me laughing like some weird idiot. "If you wanted a kiss you could have jus' said so" he joked and I punched his arm lightly.

"See? I told you, mommy and daddy would fall in love and we'll live happily ever after, a happy family" we heard our little sister say and she quickly ran to hug us.

"Aw kid we missed you, it's a good thing you're okay" Sinclair knelt down to the little sister, she seemed excited and happy… kids these days.

"I'm strong like daddy, and smart like you mommy" she giggled and jumped in her place. "But our home is broken…" she pouted and I just ruffled her hair.

"Daddy and I will get it fixed, till then we'll jus' find another place" his gaze changed from the little sister to Tenenbaum. "You still gonna stay with us, or you jus' gonna go since this thing is over? We'd love to have you as part o' this lil' family" Tenenbaum smiled at the offer and nodded.

Sinclair then looked at the other "24"s before whispering in my ear, the ideal name for our little sister. I nodded in agreement and carried the little sister. "Hey kid guess what? We decided to name you after a very important person here, without her, Daddy and Mommy would'a never met" we both looked at Eleanor. "lil' Eleanor" the little sister clapped her hands and hugged us then grinned at Eleanor.

"We'll be like sisters" Eleanor nodded then gave us a thanking smile.

As the sun went down everyone headed their own way, but all the "24"s are somehow destined to always cross paths again, and I was sure that day wasn't going to be too day, where we'd have to reunite again, maybe for a good reason, maybe for a bad reason, who knows? But in the end we'd always meet again.

As the days went by everyone seemed to now accept who we are, Sinclair and I worked on rebuilding "Sinclair Solutions" next to it we planned to make a new place "The Sinclair Deluxe" he had planned for it to be a place where all "24"s could gather, put on harmless shows to entertain people, keep us connected with the other "24"s but also made normal humans like us instead of feeling afraid of us. Of course this plan took years to take place, but as soon as the place was ready it was flooded with people, which made Sinclair a happy rich man once more.

I went back to my diving career, Sinclair of course had toyed around with my suit, though it was a good upgrade, it now had the "Δ" symbol on the hands, it had a radio to help me communicate with Sinclair and the other "24"s while I was at work, and I now had a place to keep a gun, which I'm sure I'll never use as long as I got my fists.

As for the little Eleanor, Sinclair would sometimes take her to work with him if I myself was at work too; sometimes it would be my turn to take her in case Sinclair had important meetings or whatnot. On regular days we did things that she would chose to do. In other words we just tried to be good parents for her. Every morning she'd wake up and sit on the kitchen counter waiting for us. Best part of the day is the smile on her face whenever Sinclair or I tell each other that we love one another.

Little Eleanor would sometimes get me and Sinclair to sit down and she would read a story to us, she collected stories that for some reason always ended with "And they lived happily ever after".

As for talking, Sinclair had used different types of devices and gadgets, but the last one he made was the best, it was like a small chip that I put inside my mouth that creates voice depending on the words my lips form, which worked perfectly.

I still don't believe in happy endings, not because they don't exist. But because every end is the start of something new, and wither good or bad… I'm ready and I say bring it on.

END ΩΔ


End file.
